India is a nation of 1.2 billion, but the country’s 100 richest
people own assets equivalent to one-fourth of India’s gross domestic
product. The rest of the population are ghosts within a system beyond
their control. This includes the millions that live on less than $2 a
day; or the hundreds of thousands of farmers who commit suicide, unable
to escape ruinous debts; where dalits are driven from their villages
because the owners want to turn the land to agribusiness. These are
examples of a ‘gush up’ economy that has corrupted contemporary India.
Capitalism: A Ghost Story examines the dark side of democracy, and shows
how the demands of globalized capitalism has subjugated billions of
people to racism and exploitation. It is a ferocious attack on the mega
corporations that treat India’s natural resources like robber barons,
and how they have been able to influence every part of the nation from
the government to the army in the rush for profit. But, as Arundhati Roy
passionately argues, capitalism is in crisis. The cracks are starting
to show in its facade.